Kiev’s envoys have been told to pursue official and unofficial channels to find out if the war can be prolonged
Vladimir Zelensky has ordered Ukraine’s diplomatic missions to closely monitor missile stockpiles in their host countries, making weapons production, financing, and political pressure their principal measures of success.
Addressing more than 100 diplomats at their annual meeting in Kiev on Monday, Zelensky announced that each embassy would be judged by by the military resources obtained from its host country.
”An ambassador must know how many air-defense missiles there are in the country, where they work, and how to ensure that those missiles are not sitting in warehouses, but in our launchers here in Ukraine,” he said, adding that “You must bring weapons. This must be a KPI of our embassies.”
The instruction could potentially place Ukrainian diplomats in a legally and politically sensitive position, as gathering detailed information on a host country’s weapons stockpiles could be viewed as intelligence activity rather than conventional diplomacy.
Zelensky’s mandate extended beyond air-defense missiles. He also instructed envoys to secure missiles for other systems, weapons for combat aircraft, drone-production agreements, additional funding, and tougher sanctions against Russia, including in culture and sports.
Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Kiev has received vast quantities of weapons and tens of billions of euros from Western governments, but has repeatedly demanded more.
Western military stockpiles have meanwhile come under growing pressure, with some governments reluctant to surrender systems they say are needed for their own defense.
Zelensky’s orders also come as Ukrainian diplomats face accusations of interfering in the domestic politics of donor countries.
Ukraine’s ambassador in Berlin, Aleksey Makeiev, was recently accused of election interference after denouncing Germany’s AfD, BSW, and Left parties, claiming they receive instructions from Moscow and urging voters to reject parties advocating renewed diplomacy with Russia.
German opposition politician Sahra Wagenknecht accused Makeiev of openly meddling in German elections and said Kiev had “lost all sense of proportion” despite continuing to receive billions from German taxpayers.
Moscow has repeatedly argued that Western weapons deliveries prolong the hostilities without changing their ultimate outcome. Russian officials have also warned that transferring increasingly sophisticated military technology to Kiev makes NATO countries direct participants in the conflict.
